The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for Governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.
(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to marine sonar domes, and is directed more particularly to a mounting bracket for removably connecting an acoustic sensor element to an inside wall of a sonar dome, and to a sonar dome in which the acoustic elements are so mounted.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Sonar bow domes are commonly fixed to submarines and military surface vessels beneath the water line and house acoustic sensor elements and electronics which serve to alert the vessel to the presence of an underwater vessel, such as a submarine and/or an approaching torpedo.
The domes have been constructed of two steels and rubber, and recently the U.S. Navy has been investigating the advantages of using a fiberglass-rubber-fiberglass composite material to make sonar devices for future classes of surface warships. Disposed within the domes are acoustic elements positioned on fixtures. The fixtures, or mounting brackets, are adhesively bonded to the inside surface of the dome.
There is a need for a mounting bracket which securely retains an acoustic element, but in a releasable fashion, facilitating quick and easy replacement of a damaged element.
There is further a need for a mounting bracket which releasably retains an acoustic element without an adhesive interconnection, such that the element is free of adhesive and therefore acoustically clear, so as not to interfere significantly with transmissions.
An object of the invention is, therefore, to provide a mounting bracket for fixing an acoustic element to the inside wall of a sonar dome, which mounting bracket is free from adhesive interconnecting bracket and the acoustic element, and is adapted for quick release of a damaged element, and which acoustic element is free-of adhesive and is acoustically transparent.
A further object of the invention is to provide a sonar dome featuring the improved acoustic element mounting bracket.
With the above and other objects in view, a feature of the present invention is the provision of a mounting bracket for removably connecting an acoustic sensor element to an inside wall of a sonar dome of a marine vessel. The mounting bracket includes a first protrusion bonded at a first end thereof to the inside wall of the sonar dome and extending inwardly therefrom, the first protrusion being provided with a first widthwise extending slot in a side thereof, the first slot being proximate, but spaced from the inside wall, and a second protrusion bonded at a first end thereof to the inside wall of the sonar dome and extending inwardly therefrom and generally parallel to and spaced from the first protrusion, the second protrusion being provided with a widthwise extending second slot in a side thereof, the second slot being opposed to and in alignment with the first slot. The slots are adapted to receive portions of the acoustic sensor element and retain the element in a position proximate to and removed from the inside wall of the sonar dome. At least one of the protrusions is sufficiently flexible to permit bending thereof to facilitate insertion or removal of the acoustic element and sufficiently rigid to snap back into a non-bent configuration.
In accordance with a further feature of the invention, there is provided a sonar dome assembly for marine vessels. The assembly includes a shell for attachment to an outboard surface of an underwater portion of a vessel, a plurality of mounting brackets fixed to an inboard surface of the shell, and a plurality of acoustic sensor elements releasably held on the mounting brackets. The mounting brackets each comprise first and second protrusions for retaining sensor elements mounted thereon spaced from the shell inboard surface. At least one of the first and second protrusions is sufficiently flexible to permit bending of the protrusion to facilitate insertion of the acoustic sensor element into the first and second slots, and is sufficiently rigid to snap back into a non-bent configuration to lock the acoustic sensor element in the first and second slots.
The above and other features of the invention, including various novel details of construction and combinations of parts, will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims. It will be understood that the particular dome and mounting bracket embodying the invention are shown by way of illustration only and not as limitations of the invention. The principles and features of this invention may be employed in various and numerous embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention.